24/7 Drain Cleaning & Sewer Service in Elizabeth, NJ

Elizabethport, Peterstown and the neighborhoods near downtown have homes from the 1850s through the 1920s, many multi-family with house traps.

Elmora, North Elizabeth and the Westminster area have larger single-family and two-family homes from the 1900s through the 1940s.

Many neighborhoods are full of two- and three-family homes from the early twentieth century.

Elizabeth sits on low ground near Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill and the Elizabeth River, with high groundwater in places.

The city has combined sewers, and the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties treats much of the wastewater.

The City of Elizabeth maintains local sewers, and wastewater is treated by the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties. Elizabeth property owners keep up the house sewer between the building and the city main.

Summer storms and tropical remnants flood low streets and overload combined sewers, and roots grow fastest in summer.

Winter nor'easters and cold snaps freeze pipes and push tides into low areas.

Elizabeth was founded in 1664 and served as New Jersey's first capital. By the late 1800s, it was an industrial city with the Singer sewing machine factory, shipyards and refineries, and immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy and later Cuba, Colombia, Portugal, Haiti and across Latin America filled its neighborhoods. Multi-family homes with house traps and old house sewers are the result.

Elizabethport, near the port and Newark Bay, is one of the oldest neighborhoods, with worker homes and multi-families on low ground. Groundwater is high, combined sewers back up during storms and cracked house sewers take in water.

Elmora and North Elizabeth have larger homes on tree-lined streets, many single-family and two-family. Clay house sewers under big trees fill with roots, and many homes have finished basements.

Most Elizabeth homes are two- and three-family buildings, often with basement apartments. All units share the house sewer and house trap, and the lowest unit gets the water when it clogs. Grease from several busy kitchens is a leading cause.

After an August thunderstorm, the basement tenant in a 1920s two-family in Peterstown finds water rising from the floor drain. The owner calls a plumber, who opens the house trap and pulls out grease and wipes, then cables to the street and finds a sag in the clay under the sidewalk. The owner budgets for a spot repair and a backwater valve.

Elizabeth's combined sewers overflow into the Elizabeth River and Arthur Kill during heavy rain, and low streets flood. The city is working on a long-term control plan. Backwater valves protect basements during surcharges.

Elizabeth Avenue, Elmora Avenue and Morris Avenue are lined with Latin American, Portuguese and Haitian restaurants and bakeries. Those kitchens fry and cook a lot, and pumping grease traps on schedule prevents backups.

Newark Airport and Port Elizabeth employ thousands, many on shifts. Households use water at all hours, and partial clogs show up quickly.

Elizabeth winters bring nor'easters and cold snaps. Pipes in unheated basements and exterior walls freeze first. Keep basements heated, especially in multi-family homes with basement units.

The first-floor kitchen at the back of a two-family is often over an unheated part of the basement, and its drain line can freeze there.

Over decades, a house trap builds up scale and debris that narrows it. A plumber can clean the trap and run the line to the street. In some major repairs, the trap can be replaced with a cleanout where code allows.

Some Elizabeth streets near the river, the bay and the old Elizabethtown Creek flood repeatedly in heavy storms. Homes on those streets benefit most from backwater valves and sealed house sewers.

Midtown Elizabeth, around the Union County courthouse and the train station, has older commercial blocks, apartment buildings and multi-family homes from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Shared cast iron stacks in apartment buildings collect grease from many kitchens, and lower floors get the backups. Building owners who jet stacks regularly see far fewer emergencies.

Peterstown, Elizabeth's old Italian neighborhood, and Bayway, near the refinery, have tightly packed two-families and cottages on low ground. Many house sewers there are a century old and run under narrow front yards and sidewalks. Roots from street trees, settling in soft soil and high groundwater are common challenges.

For nearly a century, the Singer sewing machine plant in Elizabethport was one of the largest factories in the world, employing thousands of workers who lived in the surrounding blocks. When it closed in 1982, many of those homes passed to new owners and immigrant families. The house sewers, however, were rarely replaced. Many still have the original clay and cast iron, now well over a hundred years old.

In buildings with several households, someone usually flushes wipes, and they don't break down. They catch in the house trap and build up with grease until the line closes. A trash can in every bathroom and a reminder to tenants make a real difference.

Note the neighborhood, the building type, how many units share the line and whether there's a basement apartment or house trap. Mention whether a storm came first.